3252 Repeating an old post

Sunday, February 5, 2011

A relationship is about give and take. Love is all about giving.

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This post is originally from Sunday, August 7, 2005

#320 Musings on the Paranormal

All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.

James Randi is out to debunk all claims of paranormal abilities. The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a one million dollar prize to anyone who can prove that they have such abilities, and can demonstrate them in a two tier test designed and administered by the foundation. They claim that "To date, no one has ever passed the preliminary tests." Details at http://www.randi.org/research/index.html.

Some of my friends are gloating that the most recent candidate (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=cfaca0798a4edde39e260ba54d327aa0&threadid=46657) failed miserably, having performed at even less than what random probabilities would predict (which is not an accurate statement, because given the design of the test, there could be no prediction, but anyway....) Results are at http://www.randi.org/documents/AchauNguyenTest.html. I'm not surprised either, but not because such abilities cannot possibly exist. I'm not surprised because of the conditions of the test, and because, well, the test subject may have been a bit deluded.

In my opinion, there are four classes when it comes to paranormal phenomena:
1.) Disbelievers of the "I have an open mind, I'll believe it when I see it" persuasion.
2.) Disbelievers who reject even the possibility, and who wouldn't believe it even if they did see it.
3.) Believers who are whacked out weirdoes who will believe anything they want to believe.
4.) Believers who are so because they have experienced it for themselves.

At the risk of ridicule, I will state that I am frankly and firmly in the fourth group. That doesn't mean I will believe any claim that comes down the pike. But I do believe there is more out there than we know right now. Call it another dimension if you like. Fairies. Whatever.

I have experienced very detailed precognitive repeating dreams that scared me. It happened. I experienced it, and yes, I did tell people about the dreams, and when they then came true, right down to the details, the precognitive aspect was independently verified.

On many occasions, I have experienced the disembodied voice in my head that told me something I could not have known otherwise, and I did in fact mention it to others, and it was verified. One example of what I mean: We had adopted a beautiful pregnant little Russian Blue. I was holding her on my lap one day, and I said to Ex#2, "I wonder how many kittens she's going to have?" and the phrase "Three and two" popped into my head, in a voice different from my normal "thinking voice".
I repeated it aloud: "Three and two."
Ex#2 looked up and said, "What?"
Me: "Three and two. It just popped into my head."
He: "What does that mean?"
Me: "I don't know. I think it has to do with Suzy's kittens." A few weeks later, Suzy gave birth to three female and two male kittens. Ex#2 was a little bit afraid of me because of stuff like that.

I scared Jay's father one time by slowing down before a curve on a hill one night, and creeping around the curve. When I slowed down, he asked "Why are you stopping?", and as we crept around the curve, a herd of about 20 deer came down the hill and crossed the road. It was not a deer crossing zone. He looked at me in shock and said "How did you know?" I always know when there are deer in my path. I also always know when there is a patrol car hidden nearby, long before I see it. (Ex#1 found that very useful. He was too stupid to be afraid of it.)

I've had a three-year-old tell me detailed stories of a prior life in another culture, in a very much older voice, using terms that were not a part of her vocabulary. All the descriptions, the terrain, the animals, the clothing, the food, the family relationships, the homes, the customs, all, all fitted together. She described daily items like a clay beehive oven, far removed from her three-year-old experience. She referred to her "Before-Mommy". ("Before mommy?" "Yeah. My mommy before you.") She described her previous death from pneumonia at age 12. All this from a child at an age where what exists in the now is and was and shall ever be as it is.

Lots more.

So yeah, put me firmly in group four. Although I have no command of it. And as I get older, it happens less and less. I think life has closed my mind more and more. It's harder to be open.

I'm not surprised that the candidate failed the test, even if I assume he's not in group three, because Randi's Foundation is frankly negative. They make it clear from the start that the test will be adversarial. The observers/judges start out negative. Even if the ability exists, and even if it can be done on command, I suspect negative energy interferes, and the foundation is relentlessly negative. So I don't think the foundation is proving anything (even though it is impossible to prove a negative anyway) because it's not a fair test. Everything about it conspires to ensure failure.

As an example, I can debunk your claim that you can start a fire with kindling, flint, and steel. You just have to play by my rules. The test will be conducted out of doors, with no cover, in a driving windy rainstorm, using the wet kindling at hand. That's pretty much what the foundation does to their candidates. They rain negativity.

(Plus that I suspect most of the candidates are nuts, but that's beside the point.)

There are those who will believe only what they see, and those who will see only what they believe. The potential for reward is far greater if we are neither.

~~Silk